A few weeks ago, the Audio Engineering Society (AES) held their annual gathering of audiophiles, industry types, and music nerds in San Francisco, and some amazing gear was demoed, reviewed and drooled over. There were also some amazing panels with inspiring speakers discussing the future of our business. Despite all of the weird stuff happening with the economy, and everyone thinking that the music biz is in the toilet, a positive message came about. It seems that, much like the economy, all of the glut and greed of the record industry has caught up to the people calling the shots, and now there are consequences for poor judgment.

Fortunately, the one consequences is that an artists’ career can be controlled by the artist. You no longer need a massive distro deal to get your music heard across the country (or globe). You just need about $35 and about an hour of time, and BOOM you are set up with about 40 digital music stores, and your music is available anywhere. That’s really not the news, though. We have all known about he wonders of CD Baby and iTunes for quite some time now. The new issue is that since anyone can do it, everyone is doing it and the market is flooded with content.

However, industry-types have noticed the rising waters, and many are well prepared. Have a look at Chris Stone’s keynote speech (bulletin points) at the AES conference. Looks like he found some answers…

Feel free to give us a call…

So I was trolling around myspace and happened upon Halestorm (one of my favorite bands). I checked out their gig schedule, and noticed that they have a residency at The Viper Room in LA. What a gig!

How, you might ask, did they get the gig? First off, they are super talented, and second, they are signed to Atlantic Records, and they have a great team working for them as well as strong fanbase. They have been at this music thing for quite some time, and they are seeing some great rewards.

Anyway…I digress. I checked out the Viper Room’s booking policy, and I think that it is something every artist should note. It is a short, yet very sweet, checklist of how to get a gig at the Viper Room, and I think their tips are universal for any gigging musician. Main idea: PROMOTE!!!!!

Click here for the link (once you are there, click on the “booking” page…I tried to get a direct link to it, but for some reason it goes to their main page…)

Well, it finally happened. The Grape closed its doors on Feb. 2nd. As a performer, this is a huge loss for the Philly music community. I played back in the day at the old Grape Street, and also lately with a bunch of my new groups. The booking and bar staff always supported the artists, and it is a shame to see them go.

However, maybe this is a good thing…Maybe Philly can start fresh..Maybe we can get back to what the old Grape Street was all about: original music and a great scene.

Remember when Y100 was on the air as an alternative station? Remember when they went off the air, and everyone said that it was the end of rock in Philly? Well, guess what. The few staffers that remained in the area went underground and went to the web. After a year or so of being underground and super DIY, they have emerged and now are hooked up w/ WXPN, and are just as influential as ever.

Lets hope that the staff of The Grape can do the same and bring back the love to Philly. Anyone know of any available VFW’s or FireHalls?

-t.L

by the way, if you want to see a post on the closing, click here.

Hey, so we figured out how to make MySpace look pretty amazing…

Check out what we’ve done:

www.myspace.com/theunlabel

-.tL

Happy Monday everybody…If you are concerned about selling your music, I suggest you check out this article from Wired: Cheat the Music Industry: Never Pay for Music….

Basically, this is a “how to” article on how to get your music for free, both legally and illegally.

There are consumers out there now that have never had to buy music, and thanks to web gems like BitTorrent it looks like they never will have to either.

So how do you get someone to pay for something that they can get for free?

What about water? People can get that for free, but they are still buying it…a lot of it…

With all of these music “taps” available, we have to figure out a better way to bottle our music and convince consumers that it is essential to value our product.

-t.L